Alleged ISIS propagandist extradited to U.S. pleads not guilty to helping the terrorists

Mirsad Kandic was extradited from Bosnia to New York on Tuesday — the same day as Sayfullo Saipov, an ISIS-inspired Uzbek national, mowed down eight people on a Lower Manhattan bike path. (AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)

An alleged ISIS propagandist wanted by U.S. officials for spewing terrorist taunts online and trying to recruit foreign fighters pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges that he helped ISIS for the past four years.

Mirsad Kandic appeared for his arraignment Brooklyn Federal Court in a teal T-shirt, gray pants and black-and-red sneakers.

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He is charged with five counts of providing material support to ISIS and one count of conspiracy.

He was held without bail and faces life in prison without parole if convicted.

Kandic was extradited from Bosnia to New York on Tuesday — the same day as Sayfullo Saipov, an ISIS-inspired Uzbek national, mowed down eight people on a Lower Manhattan bike path.

The cases do not appear related.

Originally from Kosovo, Kandic has been overseas since 2013 and arrested in late June by Bosnian authorities.

According to court papers, Kandic, 36, is a legal permanent resident who once lived in Bronx and Brooklyn. Prosecutors said by 2005 Kandic started expressing a desire to leave America and wage jihad in the Middle East.

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By December 2013, authorities had put Kandic on a no-fly list. But he still managed to leave the country under circumstances that were not explained in court papers. He ended up in Turkey, where he took up with ISIS, authorities said.

"He has, for three years now, been operating as an ISIS logistician and facilitator" who looked to help bring aboard foreign fighters to ISIS. She noted he had fake IDs and multiple aliases.

After the Nov. 13, 2015, terror attacks in France that killed 130 people -- including 83 at a Paris rock concert — Kandic was the alleged terror troll who tweeted "America in fear! The NYPD have said they will have more officers on the streets in response to the terrorist attacks in Paris this evening."

Kandic also is accused of helping an 18-year-old Australian man travel to Turkey and then on to ISIS-controlled territory in Syria and Iraq.

Acting Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Bridget Rohde said in a statement that Kandic "abandoned the United States, his adopted country, and joined ISIS."

Kandic's appointed lawyer, James Branden, declined to comment outside court.